The Brookhaven leader., 1887-01-27
MAKING GLASSWARE.
How the Work Is Done and It's Effects
Upon Those who Do 1t.

so fascinating as glaSS-blowlng, 10
stranger the spectacle presented in q
glass factory is marvellous in the ex-
treme. The seething. fiery furnaces
with their contents of molten glass; the
blowers and apprentices sweating and
winking at their work, and the curious
transformation of the glass during the
different stages of the blowing process,
render the scene as attractive and
weird as the traditional black smiths
forge.
As class the blowers are finely de-
veloped men, both mentally and physi.
cally. Personal contact with them
proves them to be intelligent. industri.
Gus, fairly well educated and self-reli-
ant. They must Of necessity be strong
and hardy in order to sustain the tire.
mendous strain which their trade i'm
poses on them. a great amount OF
strength and dclicacy is required. In
blowing window-glass the workman
takes up from ten to twenty-five
pounds of molten glass on the end Of n
pipe threc-fourths of an inch thick and
fv feet long, and is obliged Ia turn it
continually in order to keep the glass
uniform. His fingers are thus kept
moving with the conStancy and prcciS-
ion of a machine Hollow-ware work
is not so arduou>. but it Is more deli
cate and critical. In gathering lump
of glass on the end Of his pipe a prac-
teal blower can measure by his sense
of touch within an ounce Of any re-
quired weight
Window-gla>s blowing differs nateri.
ally from holloW-Warc blowing. In
window-glass factoIic, the blower gath
ers a large piece Of glass, say q lump
weighing twenty ortwcnty-iiyr pounds,
on the end of his pipe. and rolls it on a
concaye iron block. He blows through
the pipe and expands the lump Of glass
into large ball. This i allowed To
cool. and is then rcheated and swung
to and fro in Il Swing hole" and rolled
into cylindrical form l. j. then placed
on a horse" and the NO ends are
sliced from the c} lind.r. while a cut i
made lcngthwisc OH thu convex side. 1t
is then removed to the tlalt"nin@ oven,
where the heat applied causes the cyl
inder to unroll.
To make hollow-ware the blower
takes upon his pip The proper quantity
of glass, rolls it on 4 block and blows ii
to the requisite -iIc rrheated placed in
a mold and Slightly pressed. There ale
only few articles that ale hot mold
ed, and they are fiut-gia>S shades.
chimneys and electrical globes. Moth
ing is blown off-hand in green-gIa
factories.
The blower, do not live long. &
great is the strain on their physical ~
TEN. The men in the cities. for soInt
unknown reason, seem To live longer
than those in the country. The latter
rarely live to be over thirty-tiye OF
forty. Their stock Of vitality becomes
exhausted at that age. and consmp.
ton ensues Nearly all @la~S-blnwers
who die are carried off by this disease.
This is due not only 10 the oycr-exer-
ton of the lung, in blowing. but the
sudden changes in the temperature.
In the warmer months the men are
obliged to 90 into the open air to cool
off, and by this although sudden cold.
are rarely known, the seeds Of con-
sumption are planted. In very hot
weather the blowers must change their
clothing two or three times day, 50
thoroughly drcnchcd with per,pilation
do they become. Their work i strcmu
Gus, arduous, continual hurry-mrry
tho l,,,i,,,i,,,r ,f a N,-,.,.l- to no
end.
Eight hours i an average day ; work,
Work is continued only about eight
months in the year, leaving out June,
July, August and September. The rca-
son for this vacation is thrcc-fold. First
at the end of the season the men who
have been working steadily find them
selves physically Frustrated, the III
creased temperature out side rendering
the hot air of the inside intolcrabr.
Second, work is discontinued in order
to avoid over-production and enable
the manufacturers who have accumu-
lated large stocks to sell before rcsum-
ing again. Third, necessary repairs
have to be made to the furnaces, and
the summer months are selected as the
most opportune season.
The lowest daily wages received by
a journeyman blower is $50 per day.
The highest known is $l2 to $15. This
amount can be made only by the most
arduous over-eXertiOn, however, as
when man does two mems work, and
it can not be kept up for any length Of
time. The average for a good work
man, under favorable circumstances, is
about s.. so per day. The apprentice
boys earn one-half the wages of jour
neymen. They are allowed to draw
only one-sixth of their wages, how
ever, during their apprenticeship, the
employers retaining fifty per cent. as
their own, and the balance, One-third
more, is retained for the boy until the
expiration of his term as security of
continuance at service. A great many
of the glass-workers go into the bust
ness early as helpers to the blowers,
and, after gradually learning it, are
taken on as apprentices, their term
lasting from four to six years In the
window glass trade no apprentices are
allowed and the greatest precautions
are taken to prevent over-crOwding.-
Philadelphia Press.
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